The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office has released the names of two men who died during in the crash of a helicopter, March 31st. Both men were from Minnesota. The pilot was identified as 30 year old, Ryan Doolittle of Minneapolis, Minnesota, originally from California, and the passenger was identified as 23 year old, Benjamin Peterson of Marshall, Minnesota, originally from Des Moines. Peterson was employed by Western EcoSystem Tech and they were performing an aerial wildlife survey of raptor nests in the area when the accident occurred.

Authorities were notified about the crash at approximately 4:27-p.m. March 31st. The accident happened in the area of 240th and Robin, and involved a 2004 R44 Raven II, 4-passenger helicopter, registered to MN Helicopters, Inc of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and leased by Ride the Sky Helicopters, Inc. also of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Witnesses said the copter hit some powerlines before falling to the ground and bursting into flames.

The investigation is ongoing with the FAA and NTSB.

(Radio Iowa) — Top state officials say a new data point seems to indicate the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 may be working in Iowa. Governor Kim Reynolds today (Friday) reported two more Iowans have died of the disease and 118 new cases of the virus were confirmed by testing in the past 24 hours. Iowa Department of Public Health director Sarah Reisetter says also they’re tracking other number — about when patients begin to show symptoms.

“We have said all along that we anticipated last week was going to be a difficult week in terms of cases. Again, at the beginning of this week we said we fully expected to see our case numbers start to climb,” Reisetter says. “But, when we look at our onset of symptoms data, that appears to be flattening.” Governor Reynolds says that data showing when Iowans who’ve gotten a positive COVID-19 test first began showing symptoms of the virus will be released to the public next week.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s website shows 1388 positive cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Iowa and the deaths of 31 Iowans are linked to the virus.

Officials with Cass County Public Health, in Atlantic, report today (Friday), the number of positive COVID-19 test results in Iowa continues to climb and currently stands at 1,388. As of today (Friday), there have been no confirmed cases reported in Cass County.  Cass County Public Health Director Beth Olsen says “We are urging residents not to be complacent about following public health recommendations, just because a confirmed case has not been reported here yet. It’s important to remember there is widespread community transmission across the state. This means the virus is spreading from person-to-person, and often without known contact with a positive case.”

A resident’s chance of exposure to the virus is high, regardless of there being no confirmed case in Cass County. This is why all residents are advised to stay home as much as possible, and when they must leave for essential errands like groceries or to get medication, they maintain a 6-foot distance from other individuals and avoid groups of people. This is because the risk of exposure to the virus is NOT limited to exposure to a known case; you could just as easily be exposed to an undiagnosed individual at the grocery store.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa regulators ordered health care providers Friday to take steps to address a shortage of personal protective equipment for workers treating coronavirus patients. Iowa Department of Public Health deputy director Sarah Reisetter said the department was issuing an emergency order with directives on what providers should do if they cannot get enough face masks, shields and gowns to provide standard care. If they face shortages, providers are directed to use face masks that have expired, not change them for each patient encounter, use washable gowns and shorten hospital stays for coronavirus patients.